Goals

This week brings the start of the semester for 2 of my schools and the final week of summer classes for another school. I figure this is the perfect time to share some of my goals that I've started working on....

Goal #1 - To get as fit as possible
At my last oncologist appointment, she mentioned the Livestrong YMCA program which provides a free membership for 12 weeks along with 2 small group personal training classes each week.  I am on week 3, and the classes have been such a help to me.  Since I still have the port and have to be careful of repetitive motions with my arms, I was very nervous to do much with weights for my arms and chest.  I feel much more confident that I am learning what can be done effectively now since the trainer has specialized training on cancer issues.     Since my feet are still having problems from the chemo, I have had to come to grips that walking/running won't be the best way for me to get cardio, and a goal like a 5k is probably not a good idea.  I had been wanting to do a spin class last summer, and so I have finally started to do them.  I've been to 3 classes so far, and I've been able to keep cycling for the entire thing.  I am not able to stand as much as they stand or use as much tension yet, but I know that will come with time.  I'm doing 2 classes a week right now since I go on 2 other days for the personal training class.  Hopefully, when that is over, I will be able to do a class 3 times a week.

Goal #2 - To get Covered with Care up and running
I've posted something on facebook about this already, but I figured I'd mention it here as well. I really wanted to find a way to do a little something for others, especially those that have a rare type or were not the "normal" age when diagnosed with their type of cancer. Since I've found a lot of solace in crocheting blankets and had heard people express appreciation at being given blankets for treatment,  I worked with my friend Kim, who has also dealt with cancer, to create Covered with Care.  Hopefully, this is something that can help people and continue long after us.  If you have a chance, please check out our webpage at coveredwithcare@blogspot.com.   We have already received 4 names and have started getting packages out to them.  We are looking for both people to send blankets/afghans to and people to donate blankets/afghans.  Any type of blanket/afghan (homemade, store-bought, crocheted, quited, knit, fleece, etc.) are  welcomed.  The blogspot page has more details on how to recommend someone or donate a blanket.

I have a 3rd goal/want, but it is not really one that I can control or one that is very important in the grand scheme of things.  I really want my hair to be longer or at least long enough to have normal length bangs.  It is growing (and pretty fast from what people say), but I had a hard time seeing that until I looked at these 2 pictures side by side.....  The one on the left is from April 3rd, and the one on the right is from last Monday. I guess that is not too bad for 4 months.   Sadly, that is what my hair does when left to its own devices now, but thankfully there is good hair product, lol.  I hope that whatever goals you have set for yourself that you can see progress.  It may not be noticeable each day, but hopefully, you can look back in 4 months and see how far you've come!

 

So happy together

Imagine me and you, I do, I think  about you day and night, it's only right.....so happy together...

Very thankful that NED (no evidence of disease) has decided to stick around for a while!  My tumor markers are good, and have even gone down a little bit from 3 months ago.  We will definitely do another PETscan in October along with tumor markers since that will be the 6 month point. For now, I can breath a huge sigh of relief and enjoy the next 3 months. I didn't even realize just how uptight and worried I was until after I heard the voicemail from my doctor and started crying. She offered that we could repeat the tumor markers in 6 weeks if it would make me feel better, but she doesn't think it is really needed.  After my reaction to her call,  I knew that it would be better mentally /emotionally for me to just stick with doing them in 3 months and avoid the extra anxiety. 

I appreciate the continued prayers, and feel very blessed & so thankful for them and these results!

An eventful week

The last 8 days have been very eventful with a combination of both ups and downs.  Last Friday, I left North Carolina to come home and was making great time until my car seemed to lose power and started decelerating.  When you are between Atlanta and Macon with traffic that is going 70mph+, that is a very scary thing.  Thankfully the tow truck came quickly, and the Honda service center in Macon was able to figure things out quickly and get me back on the road fairly quickly.  It was a sensor that controls the fuel and engine that apparently sent my car into a "safe mode", but decelerating on the interstate sure did not feel safe. This little adventure had me running about 4 hours later than planned and $300+ lighter, but at least I was still able to make it home.   Unfortunately, when I got home at 10:30 PM my A/C had gone out due to water backing up, but thankfully, my A/C company had it flushed out and running well the next day.  At least, I knew right away what that issue was, and it was covered under my maintenance plan.  I share a pipe with my upstairs neighbor and so it  normally happens a couple of times a year. Isn't it amazing though that things all seem to break at the same time?!?

On Sunday, I placed membership at Temple Terrace church of Christ.  I love my church family at University, but due to personal reasons felt that this was a move I needed to make. It was a very hard decision for me, but  I am excited about the change for many reasons also.  One of those reasons was just born on Tuesday.

Jon & Ashley  had their beautiful baby boy, Drew Grayson, on Tuesday night. He has had a little bit of a hard time regulating his blood sugar and bilirubin which has lead to spending some time in the NICU, but those things do seem to be getting better.  They are hopeful that he won't have to spend too much more time there.  He is absolutely adorable, and I can't wait to spend even more time with him.

On Wednesday, I had an interview and was hired to teach an on-campus class at HCC's Southshore campus.  I am very excited about this opportunity, and I hope that it might lead to more opportunities with them in the future.

On the downside, I have had to deal with more craziness from medical billing offices this week.  I don't understand how a bill that doesn't even get mailed until May 1st for a surgery the past December could be sent to collections by the end of May, especially when you've never been given an actual itemized bill that you've asked for.   I was basically told that it didn't matter that it doesn't make sense, and that their office won't talk with me about it anymore. Apparently, the date from service is all that matters not when the actual bills go out to you according to this office.  I don't have a problem paying what I owe if I owe it, but at least, explain to me why & how my bill showed nothing owed for 5 months then suddenly something was owed even though I've received no explanation of benefits indicating that.  Because they refuse to discuss it with me, I'm stuck with it on my credit report too.  Honestly, I think dealing with billing and the finance part has frustrated me more than anything else during this time with cancer.  I wish I could just throw the bills in a box and ignore them until I was having a day that I could deal with them, but sadly, that would probably just lead to more frustrations like I described above.

It was especially hard to deal with that this week.  I had heard other people describe it, but didn't really understand how much going for your  3 month, or whatever, check-up makes you anxious, nervous, and scared for a week, or more, before the appointment until being in the situation.  My appointment is on Tuesday, but I am just doing the bloodwork that day & meeting with the Dr.  I won't have any types of results until a few days later, which just makes it worse.  People have told me that it will get easier the further out from it I am, and I just hope that I get the opportunity to test that theory by staying NED for a while.    Here's to hoping that the only big event next week is the good one of  bringing baby Drew home!

Take that cancer stat

Today is my 1 year cancerversary, and all I keep thinking is "take that you silly cancer stat" regarding the average lifespan of stage 4 being 18 months.   It was right about this time last year that I got the call that put my sister & I on the road heading home from NC so that we could make the appointment that was scheduled for the next day.   I don't know what my bloodwork on the 30th will show, but I'm at least 2/3 of the way to beating that initial stat hurdle. Unlike then, when I had a gut feeling that I would be getting that cancer call, I feel at peace.  I have my side effects from the meds now, but I don't have that crushing fatigue that I had previously and now know was a symptom of the cancer.  I ask for your prayers that that will continue to be the case and the cancer will stay in remission for a long time.

I've been traveling the last week and a half, first with friends in Charleston and Myrtle Beach and now with family in NC. We've hiked to several waterfalls and to a beautiful mountain view, but I plan to take a "me day" today while the family goes hiking some harder trails.  A couple of possible adjunct opportunities have presented themselves in the last few weeks, and I have a phone interview with one of them this afternoon.   When adjuncting only, it is good to have multiple schools that you work for, as I do, because  each school may not always offer the class you teach or have enough students for it to make each time.  This summer has been much lighter on classes, and after this week, I will only have 2 online classes that I'm teaching until mid-August. This is quite a shift from the 5-7 classes that I usually have during the regular school year. While a little break is good to regroup, get some housework done, and get caught up with things, I'm really hoping that these opportunities will work out if they would be a good thing for me.  I'd appreciate your prayers on that as well!

It is always good to travel and see both friends and family.  I have always loved having this trip to NC with my nephews, and it is a wonderful bonus that my niece Lylah, & her parents, got to join us for a few days also.  Once I get home, it won't be too much longer, probably, before baby Drew will be born, and there will be a new nephew to enjoy.  Blessed to be able to spend time with all of them! Here are a few pics from this trip so far:

 

 

 

Just a year ago

It is a little bit crazy to me that this journey just began a year ago.  At this time last year, I was finishing up my mammogram and ultrasound, and little did I know, I was in for quite a ride. In the last year, I've had 2 biopsies, 3 surgeries, 4 PETscans, 6 cycles of chemo, and so much blood drawn that I might as well be supplying a vampire in addition to that mammogram/ultrasound.  Thankfully, I've also been able to take some cool trips to counteract the not so fun stuff.   It still isn't officially my cancerversary. That is July 17th.  I was in North Carolina at the time which really ruined that trip (to put it lightly), but since we have that NC week every year, I'm glad that I will always be doing something fun with family when the cancerversary comes around.  Wow, what a year!

Crossing another off the list

The last few weeks have been very full, and I am thankful for every busy moment.  I am also so thankful that I got to cross off one of my big things on my bucket list by taking a cruise to Alaska. I'm so appreciative that I have friends who helped make that happen. There have been a few moments that I questioned my sanity at planning so many things this summer, but while on my Alaska/Seattle trip, I heard from another friend with metastatic breast cancer, who went into remission at the same time as me, that she is already out of remission. It was a sobering reminder of how quickly things can change and how much I need to live for and appreciate every moment, while taking nothing for granted.

Alaska was absolutely amazing. We were able to see both the north and south Sawyer Glaciers in Tracy Arm which were just beautiful. Probably the best day of the trip was our day in Juneau where we went to Mendenhall Glacier & walked to the bottom of a waterfall at the base of it along with going whale watching. The whale watching was amazing because we saw 10-14 humpback whales bubble net feeding.  Our time in Sitka and Ketchikan was good as well, and the trip was topped off by a visit to Craigdarroch Castle in Victoria, B.C.  Plus I can now say I've been to Canada as well. We stayed in Seattle for a couple of days, and I loved the Chihuly Garden and Glass museum in the Seattle center. The only bad thing about the trip is that I have struggled to get back on Eastern time which is why I'm writing this way too late at night, lol.  Hope you enjoy just a few of the pictures!  

This blog took me a bit longer than planned to get to because my computer decided to bite the dust the day after I got home.  I had been expecting that the computer's demise might happen sooner rather than later since I was still on my 5-6 year old laptop that had endured all the abuse of the dissertation.  It acted weirder than I would like a few times on the trip, and the day after I got home it began doing even crazier things.  Since I teach online, I have to have a reliable computer that is not going to freeze up for half the day or any other oddity.  At least, I was able to get a computer that was lighter than what I used to have, and all of my data was able to be moved over in less than 24 hours.  Four of the 5 classes that I am teaching right now end this weekend so the speed of getting back up and running to get back grading was critical. Speaking of that, I'd better get some sleep so that I am coherent enough to grade again tomorrow when I need to. Hope everyone has a good weekend!

Diet and insurance

A few doctor visits ago, I asked my oncologist what type of diet I should be following since the recommendations are different for breast cancer vs liver cancer, etc.  She mentioned that with active stage 4 cancer the diet isn't going to "cure" it, but research on following a mediterranean diet seemed to be positive for cancer and many other health issues.   I looked into it  at that time, but really started trying to follow it once I got the word on NED.  The mediterranean diet is high on fruits and vegetables with a goal of 7-9 a day and is more restricted on meat saying you should have beef or pork only 1-2 times a month with fish or chicken a few times a week.  I have probably leaned more to vegetarian than it actually requires you to do.  It has been a month, and so far, I've done pretty well with it.  Due to some of my other health issues, I used to have to play a lot of games of "if I eat this, I can't eat that" that I've found don't have to be played with meat primarily out of my diet.  So, if you have any good mediterranean or vegetarian recipes, please share them with me.  I am trying to add more items to my menu.

I got some good news yesterday that my insurance has finally approved my appeal and paid for my surgery in February.  That was a huge ($20,000+ sized) weight off of my shoulders.  What a relief!

Nothing much more to share;  I am just so thankful to have that worry gone and be feeling well!